Automatic phonograph



April 17, 1945. c113. DALE AUTQMATIC PHONOGRAPH Filed Jan. 7, 1942 Patented Apr. 17, 1945 2,a14,oso AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH Colin B. Dale, Oak "Park, 111., assignor to Philco Radio and Television Corporation, Philadeh phia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application January 7, 1942, Serial No. 425,925

5 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in record-supporting devices forautomatic phonographs, and more particularly to an improved device of the type employing a central record-supporting spindle or post, as shown, for example, in Patent No. 1,469,152 issued to G. M. Boumphrey.

Automatic phonographs of the above type are characterized by a two part record support most commonly comprising a spindle arranged to support the record at its center by means of a shoulder near the top of thesplndle, the spindle extending upward through the center hole in the record, and a bracket or shelf arranged to sup- .port the outer edge of the record through a small udelf.

Heretofore, after several records in a series had been dropped from the supports onto the turntable, it has been necessary to remove the spindle from its mounting, as by raising the spindle and withdrawing it through the center hole of the records, before the played records could be conveniently removed as a group. Any construction which requires this removal of the spindle is undesirable because .of the inconvenience of such an additional operation each time the phonograph is reloaded, and in most cases the unavoidable mechanical looseness and tolerances attendant to such a removable spindle structure render the phonograph subject to imperfect op eration.

By the present invention there is provided a novel record-supporting device which overcomes all of the foregoing objections and which permits .the ready removal of a group of records from the turntable without any inconvenience to the user of the phonograph.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel record-supporting device which em.- bodies a novel spindl structure that. permits ready removal of records from the turntable without the necessity of removing the spindle.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel spindle structure embodying a retractable element for preventing the dropping of more than one record at a time and for permitting ready removal of the played records from the turn-table.

' Another object of the invention is to provide, in combination with the novel spindle, a. member movable to operative and inoperative positions for supporting the "records at their outer portions and for permitting'easy removal or the records from the turntable. i 1

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the 'iollowing'description.

In the accompanying drawingf:

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation ofone form of an automatic phonograph embodying the present invention, certain parts being broken away or shown in section for. purposes of illustration Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of a portion of the spindle shown in Fig. 1";

Fig.3 is a sectional view' taken on line 3-- 3' of Fig. 2;

Fig.4 is a view showing a portion of the spin- .dle in vertical section;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view .showing theo'uter record support -in. imipe'ra'tive position and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the dog and spring removed from the spindle and showing the spring in'itsunfiexed position.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a portion of an automatic" phonograph'having a basemember I on which the'severalparts'are assembled. A suitable depending bracket 2 is arranged to support a bearing '3 for: the'turnta'ble hub l to which the turntablei is attached; Any suitable drive means-(not shownl-ma'y be provided for rotating the turntable.- .:;A reproducert of suitable type may be pivotejd on the base member for lateral movement over the record during the playing-thereof; as will be understood.

The automatic record changing apparatus' of the phonograph comprisesa central non rotat able spindle I having a-shoulder portion 8, as will be described in detail -and a-record shelf 9. Spindle 1 extends through the turntable hub and'its lower end-is affixedto bracket -2. -As shown in Fig. 1 when a number of records are placed on the supports, the shoulder 8. supports the records at; their centerv while shelf 9 supports theouter edge of the records. Irdesired a spring-urged arm l0 having a soft rubber roller ll maybe used to hold therecords on their-supports.

Asis best shown in Figs} and-4;. the spindle I has the nearly horizontal flat shoulder 8 cut into one side thereof. Ihe outer edge of the shoulder should be carefully rounded to reduce record wear to a minimum. on the oppositeside of the spindle from the shoulder 8 there is formed a vertical slot II in which" there is secured by pivdt pin I30 a small pivotally mounted dog 13 which is urgedinto a protruding positionby a small spring ll. The-spring is in theform of a wire I element having is lower end secured to the pro= jection 15 on the dog and being disposed in slot i2 free of attachment. From Fig. 4 it will be seen that clockwise rotation of the dog is limited by the engagement of projection IS with the rear curved wall of slot l2, while the construction permits the complete movement of the dog into slot i2 upon counter-clockwise rotation. Normally the spring and dog are disposed as shown in Fig. 4, the spring being flexed from its unflexed position shown in Fig. 6, and, therefore, exerts a clockwise force on the dog. When the dog is subjected to a counter-clockwise force, it recedes into slot l2 (this movement being permitted by the free disposition of the spring in the slot), while the lower portion of the spring is flexed away from the curved surface of the spindle recess. When the counter-clockwise force is removed, the energy thereby stored in the spring urges the dog clockwise. It will be noted that gravity also urges the dog clockwise, since it center of gravity is to the right of the pivot, as viewed in the figures. However, it is preferred not to rely on gravity alone for this purpose. Dog 13 is positioned above step 8 by approximately the thickness of a record (see Fig. 2).

As is shown in Fig. 3, the body of the spindle is preferably oval in section to permit the proper sliding action of the records, although the lower end portion of the spindle will preferably be round so as to best center the records on the turntable.

T automatically feed records in succession onto the turntable a suitable mechanism (not shown) may be provided to raise and swing the reproducer away from the record last played on the turntable, after which said mechanism may be arranged to cause a lateral oscillatory movement of the shelf 9. Shelf 9 is supported on a bracket [6 and is adapted to rotate about pivot 11 between the positions shown in Figs. 1 and respectively. Bracket 16 is pivoted at Hi to a bracket (not shown) carried by the base I. To bracket Hi there is secured an arm l9 arranged to be actuated by the record changing mechanism as aforesaid, to move the shelf 9 and the record engaging studs 20 carried thereby toward the spindle a distance sufficient to slide the lower record off the shoulder 8, after which shelf 9 is moved quickly back to its original position as shown in Fig. 1. This allows the displaced record to fall generally horizontally onto the turntable. The mechanism for moving the reproducer 6 and for actuating arm is is not a part of this invention and need not be illustrated. Any suitable mechanism may be employed, such as that disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Richard S. Cranmer and Charles A. Pittman, Jr., Serial No. 407,788, filed August 21, 1941, now Patent No. 2,339,981, granted January 25, 1944.

During the forward motion of the shelf 9, the dog i3 serves to prevent movement of the records above the lowermost record and, specifically, dog I 3 prevents the second record from the bottom from sliding with the bottom record when the latter is moved laterally. For this purpose the pivot point of the dog i3 should be above the region of contact between the dog and the inner edge of record being restrained. After the bottom record is released from the shoulder 8, the entire record stack drops down a distance equal to the thickness of one record, and thus records are automatically supplied to the turntable in their proper turn.

To remove the records from the turntable after the playing of the records, it is only necessary to rotate the shelf 9 relative to the arm l6 into 7 the position shown in Fig. 5 and to lift the records along the spindle. Since the dog I3 is retractable when subjected to upward forces there are no projections which prohibit the continuous smooth 5 upward removal of the records from the spindle,

as will be clear from the drawings.

While a specific form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention is not thus limited but is capable of modification within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An an automatic phonograph, a turntable, a non-removable record spindle, a, shoulder portion 5 on said spindle for the support of a group of records at their centers, the spindle extending upwardly through an opening in the center of each record, said spindle having a recess in the vicinity of said shoulder, a movable support for the records adapted when actuated to move the lowersaid shoulder and normally protruding into engagement with the next higher record to prevent lateral movement thereof when the lowermost record is moved, said dog being retractable into said recess when subjected to upwardly directed forces, and spring means in said recess urging said dog to its protruding position.

2. In an automatic phonograph of the type in which a plurality of superposed records are supported centrally and peripherally and are dropped successively onto a turntable, a central record-supporting structure comprising a spindle having a shoulder on one side of said spindle on which the records may seat and from which they may be successively discharged by lateral movement of the lowermost record, said spindle also having a recess opposite said shoulder, and an element movably mounted in said recess and normally projecting from the opposite side of said spindle at a distance above said shoulder approximately equal to the thickness of a record, whereby to prevent the dropping of more than one record at a time, said element being retractable into said recess to permit upward movement of the records after the playing thereof.

3. In an automatic phonograph of the type in which a plurality of superposed records are supported centrally and peripherally and are dropped successively onto a turntable. a central record-supporting structure comprising a spindle having a shoulder on which the records may seat and from which they may be successively discharged by lateral movement of the lowermost record, said spindle also having a recess oppo site said shoulder, and a dog pivotally mounted in said recess and normally projecting therefrom into engagement with the next higher record to prevent lateral movement thereof when the lowermost record is moved, s aid dog being retract- 5 able into said recess to permit upward movement of the records.

4. In an automatic phonograph of the type in which a plurality of superposed records are supported centrally and peripherally and are dropped successively onto a turntable, a central record-supporting structure comprising a spindle having a shoulder on which the records may seat and from which they may be successively discharged by lateral movement of the lowermost record, said spindle also having a recess opposite said shoulder, a dog pivotally mounted in said recess and normally projecting therefrom into engagement with the next higher record to prevent lateral movement thereof when the lowermost record is moved, said dog being retractable into said recess to permit upward movement of the records, and spring means in said recess urging said dog to its projecting position.

5. In an automatic phonograph of the type in which a plurality of superposed records are supported centrally and peripherally and are dropped successively onto a turntable, a central record-supporting structure comprising a, spindle having a surface on which the records may seat and from which they may be successively discharged by lateral movement of the lower-- most record, and means for preventing the discharge of records other than the lowermost record and for permitting removal of the records from the turntable by lifting them along said spindle, said means comprising adelent element on said spindle arranged cooperatively with said surface and having a portion normally projecting into engagement with the next higher record to prevent lateral movement thereof when the lowermost record is moved, said detent element being so constructed and arranged that it is deflectible, by upward movement of the records after reproduction thereof, to a position in which it permits upward movement of the records along the full length of the spindle.

COLIN B. DALE. 

